This weekend the Mississippi Native Plant Society will meet in Oxford, Mississippi. Registration will begin at 9:30 at the Oxford Public Library on Saturday 10/27/07. E-mail me at gail@gailbarton.com for details.

I am by no means a purist, but I do love native plants and I would guess that at least half the plant materials in my garden are native. When I first began to learn native plants, Caroline Dormon’s books were among my best resources. Caroline Dormon wrote Wildflowers Native to the Deep South and Natives Preferred. She was a very talented artist who illustrated all her own books with watercolors and line drawings. She also illustrated Elizabeth Lawrence’s Gardens in Winter.

After Miss Dormon passed in the ’60’s, her friends purchased her home and land near Saline, Louisiana. They established a foundation and turned the property into a nature preserve. Briarwood is managed by Richard and Jessie Johnson. The Johnsons live on the site. Richard grew up working odd jobs around Miss Dormon’s garden and knew her very well. He and Jessie are kind and wonderful people who tell great stories about Miss Dormon.

I am surprised by how few people have visited Briarwood. To plan your road trip, go to the Briarwood web site at http://www.cp-tel.net/dormon/